2023/24 Spring Scanning Results

Ask any dairy vet what their most common farmer query is throughout the summer months.  I can hazard a guess that close behind “What are the spore counts up to?” will be “How are the scanning results looking?”  The irony here is that both spore counts and scanning results are very unique to the individual farm and while regional trends are interesting it is important to focus on your performance and numbers. As a wise person possibly once said….trends are made to be bucked!

That being said, with scanning results rolling in we can start to build a picture of how Franklin Vet’s herds have performed reproductively.  You will remember that last season saw a dramatic fall in national reproductive performance with the NZ average 6-week in-calf rate experiencing a record drop to 65.7% (with empty rates naturally following suit). A rebound was in order!

Thankfully early signs suggest we are going to get our rebound, led (in part at least) by much higher herd conception rates to AI.  Six-week in-calf rate is the performance metric by which overall reproductive success is measured.  Across the herds scanned to date, the 6-week in-calf rate has lifted by an average of +3.9% and there is a pattern of improvement rather than some-up and some-down. Currently, our average 6-week in-calf rate is 69.8% across the practice

Trends in empty rate or NICR (not in-calf rate) are harder to get a read on given the degree to which they are affected by mating length.  Statistically, an improvement of +3.9% in 6-week ICR should provide a drop in empty rates of -1.5%. Our numbers are only showing a modest improvement of -0.5% empty but as mentioned will be affected heavily by adjustments to overall mating length.

Early days but overall it’s a sunny picture! Much like the year to come – here’s hoping!

Dr Greg Lindsay, BVSc, Farm Vet & Regional Manager, Kopu.